I say, Good night, Daddy, Good night, Mommy, Good night, sis, Good night, Mr. Smith, Good night, Mr. and Mrs. Bill, Good night, Mr. Barn, Good night, moon, Good night, stars, Good night, God, Good night, angels, Good night, bed, Good night, blanket, And good night to everyone in the whole wide world. Oh, and good night to my stuffed dog Minnie. I love you.
The daughter of the Grand Ole Opry’s official photographer reminisces about witnessing country music history alongside her father in this memoir. Like many little girls, Libby Leverett-Crew’s father, Les Leverett, often had to work nights and weekends. But unlike many girls, Libby’s father took her along to his job—where he was the official photographer for the Grand Ole Opry for more than thirty years. First at the historic Ryman Auditorium, and later at the Grand Ole Opry House, Libby Leverett-Crew was a witness to country music history. And now some forty years later, she pays tribute to the wonderful people who touched the lives of her entire family while at the same time hearing witness to the powerful impact a loving father can have on his child’s life. In Saturday Nights with Daddy at the Opry, Libby Leverett-Crew shares not only her remarkable memories of those Saturday nights with Dolly Parton, Minnie Pearl, Roy Acuff, Bill Monroe, and countless others, including assorted Muppets, astronauts, ballet dancers, actors, Andy Warhol, and k.d. lang, but also a beautiful father-daughter relationship. The book also includes more than 100 photographs from her father. Praise for Saturday Nights with Daddy at the Opry “Les Leverett has added so much class and talent to our world; I’m not surprised that his daughter, Libby, has done this book. Yeah, Libby good for you. I’m proud to have baby-sat you from time to time backstage. You were always a joy.” —Dolly Parton “There’s an old song, “I Was There When It Happened So I Guess I Oughta Know.” That’s [Libby’s] story inside the world of country music. I knew her first as Les Leverett’s kid. It must be in the water at their house because she’s come into her own as a masterful photographer. She also wields a pen that has a detailed memory for great storytelling.” —Marty Stuart
Picture this, a child sitting in the principal office awaiting discipline. The Principal says, "Young child, I'm going to have to call your parents!" The child replies, "You mean my Mom. My father isn't......" What about the Father, where is he? Fathers often get a bum rap, sometimes justified but more often mystified. The role of fatherhood is often misunderstood. Yes we are providers and protectors. However in the mind of a child, they just want us to be Dad. A young child could care less if Dad is the president of a company. All they want is for Dad to be present in their lives. This is a story about three little girls spending quality time with Dad. Three sisters, a 5 yr. old, 7 yr. old, and 10 yr. old share their special day with Dad in a light hearted way. From a child's perspective, a walk in the park, a drive to Grandpa's house, and Dad coaching the softball team is the world to them.
Every family is unique. Loyal and Katherine Nash raised their four children to be honest, fair, and proud of their origins. Born during a Vermont blizzard, Beatrice was welcomed by her older brothers and nine cows. But as would happen several times in her childhood, her family soon moved, packing up and heading for the Northwest. In a fascinating memoir accompanied by original photographs, Beatrice chronicles her childhood from birth through her varied experiences as her family eventually traveled from the Northwest to an isolated farm in Maine shortly after the Second World War. As she details how she contended with her older brothers and explored as far as her curiosity and legs would take her, Beatrice shares a glimpse into her coming-of-age journey as she played heated games of cowboys and Indians, ran through the sprinkler, built imaginary cities in the hay, and knelt in school bathroom stalls to protect herself from the Communists. But it was not until she turned thirteen and enrolled in boarding school that Beatrice finally saw a world beyond that of her parents’ dreams. Some Stories is the memoir of a girl’s mid-twentieth century New England childhood as she learned lessons, found happiness in the simple gifts, and ultimately attained independence.
"An excellent bibliotherapy book to help middle-schoolers talk about AIDS and cope with the death of a loved one." - Booklist Crystal's older sister, Janelle, just won second place in a writing contest, and her younger sister, Roxann, was picked to sing a solo in the school play. It's difficult to be in the middle of two gifted sisters–especially when Crystal thinks she has no talents of her own. Then Uncle Joe comes to town and Crystal finds comfort in their friendship, and starts to feel special. But when she is told that Uncle Joe is dying of AIDS, she must come to grips with his illness. In the process, Crystal learns a lot about her strong family, about life, and most of all, about herself. Full of hope and optimism, this coming–of–age story explores life and death, and one family's struggle to stick together through hard times.
Secrets on Sycamore Street is a suspense story about four housewives caught up in sex, lies, drugs, and blackmail. Abandoned on a ranch in Wyoming by her drug-dealing parents, Catherine has no memory of her childhood before being adopted at age twelve by her grandmother. Educated in an all-girls Catholic school, she was not prepared for the changes in her life when she moved from Fort Collins, Colorado, a college town, to Irvine, California, an affluent bedroom community south of Los Angeles. Entering marriage as a naive young woman, she feels unfulfilled in her role as a wife of a controlling, self-centered husband and mother of a two-year-old. With no money to finish her college education, she stumbles into a job as a sex phone operator. Fearing his disapproval, she keeps the nature of her job a secret from her husband. Surprisingly, she discovers she has a knack for dealing with the men who call, a skill she learns to use wisely. Confiding in her friends about her job, she discovers they too have secrets. All too quickly, Catherine realizes secrets dont always stay hidden when a blackmail letter arrives, demanding money to keep silent.
Raised with twelve brothers in a part of the segregated South that provided no school for African American children, Sylvia Bell White went North as a teenager, dreaming of a nursing career, but in Milwaukee she and her brothers found only racial discrimination, and she had to persevere through racial rebuffs to find work. When a Milwaukee police officer killed her younger brother in 1958, the Bell family suspected a racial murder but could do nothing to prove it?until twenty years later, when one of the officers involved in the incident unexpectedly came forward. Sylvia was the driving force behind the family's four-year quest for justice through a civil rights lawsuit.
